The Passive House Institute (PHI) is an independent research institute that has played an especially crucial role
in the development of the Passive House concept - the only internationally recognised, performance-based energy standard in construction. Learn more about the Institute and its work.

Passive House Conference in Leipzig with many offers for municipalities

The success of the energy revolution will largely be decided at the local level. The building sector is especially important here because this is where a third of the total energy is consumed. Opportunities for greater efficiency in cities and municipalities will be one of the main topics at the International Passive House Conference in Leipzig. Municipal representatives will be able to attend lectures addressing their specific needs. Speakers from many European countries will also present the results of the EU funded project PassREg. more

Programme of International Passive House Conference 2015 now available

The Passive House Standard enables every building owner to benefit from the energy revolution, with certified components ensuring cost-effectiveness. This basic concept will be the focus of the International Passive House Conference, held from 17 to 18 April 2015 in Leipzig. Speakers from all over the world will present exemplary projects and solutions for building systems, ventilation units and windows. An exhibition will provide specific examples of products currently available on the market. more / Conference Programme / Registration

New EU-funded project Sinfonia looks to refurbishment master plans

Institutions across Europe are working together in the EU-funded project Sinfonia in order to develop feasible energy refurbishment concepts for cities. For the demo
cities Innsbruck and Bolzano master plans are prepared and implemented at urban district level. The energy savings are being monitored
by the Passive House Institute, which is also participating in the individual refurbishment projects by providing consulting and certification services and looking at the electrical efficiency in households. more / Sinfonia Website

"Active for more comfort" - Passive House brochure as online flipbook

How does a Passive House work? Which requirements exist with regard to components, planning, design, and project implementation? What is it like to live in a Passive House, what has already been built, and why are Passive Houses such an attractive investment? In order to competently answer such questions, the International Passive House Association (iPHA) has created the informational brochure "Active for more comfort". A new edition of this brochure is now available as an online flipbook.

New designPH takes Passive House planning to a whole new level

Passive House planning has never been more convenient. The new designPH, a 3D model interface developed by the Passive House Institute, allows for graphic input of energy related design data. Details relating to the thermal building envelope and shading are entered automatically and can be optimised if necessary. The treated floor area can be gradually refined in order to simplify the design process. The results can be exported into the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) with just a few clicks. more / order now

Monitoring confirms efficiency of Passive House tennis hall in Sweden

On the tennis court, Stefan Edberg was the number one for a long time – today the Swede is reaching top scores with his own indoor sports centre. As the first of its kind, the "Södra Climate Arena" in the city of Växjö was built to Passive House Standard in 2012. New monitoring results not only confirm the low consumption values, but the heating demand during the first two years of operation was even lower than anticipated. A user survey also indicates a high level of satisfaction with the comfortable conditions inside the hall. more

Component Award for windows in the context of refurbishments

Replacing the windows in a building can improve its energy efficiency significantly. In order to acknowledge particularly suitable products, the Passive House Institute is announcing the Component Award for the second year. This time the focus will be on windows which provide good results both during a transitional period without façade insulation as well as after completion of the refurbishment. The winners will be presented at the International Passive House Conference, to be held from 17-18 April 2015 in Leipzig. more

Number of certified Passive House square metres reaches one million

Building owners throughout the world are increasingly turning to
the Passive House Standard – the number of square metres that have been certified internationally has now reached one million. The symbolic threshold was crossed with the certification of a detached house in Santa Cruz in California. Almost 25 years after the construction of a prototype house in Darmstadt, tens of thousands of tenants and home owners continue to benefit from the low heating costs and high level of comfort provided by Passive Houses. more

Concept of step-by-step building refurbishment honoured with award

A concept developed by the Passive House Institute for the energy-focused modernisation of buildings has won first prize in a competition. The award jury especially lauded the approach of a "refurbishment road map" with appropriate individual steps. The concept was largely developed within the framework of the EU funded EuroPHit project. The intent is to provide both a certification of such "overall road maps" as well as an energy assessment of the individual refurbishment steps in the planning tool PHPP. more

Thousands of visitors at International Passive House Days

During the International Passive House Days in early November, hundreds of buildings around the world were opened to the public. Thousands of visitors, wishing to experience the benefits of this energy-efficient construction method for themselves, took advantage of this opportunity: in Europe and America as well as in Asia and New Zealand. Experts demonstrated how it works, residents shared their experiences. An overview of the buildings that were opened is provided on www.passivehouse-database.org (Photo: Gauler)

Sustainability award presented to Passive House pioneers

A high-level recognition was awarded to Prof. Emeritus Bo Adamson and Prof. Wolfgang Feist with the presentation of the Sustainable Building Award on Thursday in the City of Lund, Sweden. Over 25 years ago, the two physicists developed the concept of a building that needs no active heating; today, the resultant Passive House Standard forms the fundamental basis for energy efficient construction throughout the world. The Award was presented by the former EU Commissioner for the Environment, Margot Wallström. more

Italy's first Passive House School near Verona receives certificate

Energy efficiency and climate protection are a learning process for everyone. Consequently, a school building is always an ideal object of study in the context of building construction. An excellent example of this has been inaugurated near Verona in Italy: the "Scuola Passiva Raldon" – the country's first Certified Passive House School. This new build combines high quality architecture with sophisticated building systems, featuring a special ventilation system integrated into its façade. more

PHPP with Anglo-American measurement system now available

A new version of the Passive House planning tool PHPP is now available for sale. It allows complete data input based on the imperial system of units. The IP-PHPP was developed specially for the North American market where this system is used by numerous designers and architects (more / order now).
A very useful help for everybody working with PHPP is provided in a new book:
"PHPP Illustrated": a concise, step by step, visual guide to the Passive House Planning Package.

Designers and architects gear up for the future of construction

With the growing importance of energy efficient construction, the need for relevant knowledge is also increasing. Designers and architects around the world are therefore equipping themselves with the necessary expertise - the number of certified Passive House experts has now reached the 4,000 mark.
In June alone, several hundreds of examinations were given in more than
30 countries, in Europe and North America as well as in South Korea and
New Zealand. more

Award for Heidelberg Passive House district now visible in the cityscape

Heidelberg's Bahnstadt is the world's largest Passive House district – recently awarded the 2014 Passive House Award at the International Passive House Conference for its exemplary nature. More than one hundred projects entered to compete in a total of six categories. The Bahnstadt district was far and away the favourite in the "region" category. The official award plaque has now been affixed to a kindergarten in the district, thereby making the international recognition visible to passers-by within the cityscape itself. more / photos

Accolade for world-class architecture in Passive House Standard

Building with an eye to energy efficiency is not only cost-effective, it can also augment architectural design. This has been proven by the winners of the 2014 Passive House Award. Seven projects were recognised: an apartment block in Berlin (Germany), a New York retrofit (USA), a seminar building in Goesan (South Korea), an art museum in Ravensburg (Germany), a building complex in Espoo (Finland), a terraced house in Philadelphia (USA) and an entire Passive House district in Heidelberg (Germany). more

New Passive House categories also rate building energy gains

The efficiency of the clearly defined Passive House Standard has been proven thousandfold – to also offer a reliable means of orientation regarding the additional use of renewables, the Passive House Institute now introduces new categories. These will not only take energy demand into account, but also energy supply through, for example, solar panels. In this way, Passive House offers an attractive solution for the energy revolution while serving as the basis for the "Nearly Zero Energy Building" of the European Building Directive. more

Passive House also provides answer to energy efficiency in the tropics

Whether in India, Singapore or Brazil – Passive House principles also work
in tropical climates. The focus, however, changes: while heating is typically not needed in
these climates, efficient cooling and dehumidification methods play an important role.
A new study by the Passive House Institute gives concrete design recommendations,
showing that, in the Passive House of the tropics, energy demand is also drastically
reduced. The entire study is now available online on the knowledge platform Passipedia (member area). more